


Little Boy

by JJayBlah



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Ageplay, Caregiver, Little Space, Little!Sirius, M/M, ddlb, non sexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 15:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16121246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJayBlah/pseuds/JJayBlah
Summary: Remus finds out about Sirius' little space.





	Little Boy

Sirius wasn’t as strong as he made himself out to be. That’s not to say that he was utterly dependent, just that often times, he needed more help than he let on. Occasionally, Remus caught sight of the other’s defencelessness. Only ever in small doses. The first time was during a potions class. Sirius hadn’t been paying attention in the previous cluster of classes, too engaged in planning a prank with James, and when he got back into the swing of things, it turned out to be harder than he’d anticipated. The stress of failing a class and disappointing his surrogate mother suffocated him. He didn’t say anything, he never would, but Remus caught him playing with his food at lunch, Absentmindedly pushing his vegetables around the plate with the back of his fork. When James called his name, Sirius lifted his head with such wide eyes, Remus could’ve sworn a toddler was sitting in front of him. It only lasted a few seconds and then Sirius was blinking back the expression, forcing that trademark grin onto his face.

 

“You disturbed me, Prongs. I was wondering if we could get colour changing hair dye into Snivellus’ shampoo.”

 

“As if he uses bloody shampoo.”

 

Their laughter lifted the heavy atmosphere as quickly as it had settled in the first place and Remus didn’t mention it. After all, no-one else had said anything, so it didn’t seem right that he should. Though the closer he got to Sirius, the more he noticed those moments. An uncharacteristic pout here and there and a sleepy rub at his eyes with the back of his wrist. While Remus was getting an idea of what he might be seeing, if Sirius wasn’t ready to bring it up, then he wouldn’t either. He expected that one day Sirius would just come out with it, in the same way that he did with most things. Unabashed and unashamed. No such luck. 

 

Sirius had been missing all day. The group had caught a glimpse of him at breakfast and then nothing. He’d just pushed himself up from his seat, gave a fleeting smile in their direction and then he was gone. Peter had taken himself to the library to catch up on some reading, James was busy making a fool of himself to get Evans to laugh and that left Remus alone. He’d planned on finishing homework while he had time to himself. True, he adored his group of friends, they were easily distracting. Admittedly, the work was always done, but Remus could do without the stress of wondering if he would make it. He dumped the heavy books onto his bed, crossed his legs and heaved out a heavy breath as though that would give him the go-ahead to start, but the sound that emitted from the wardrobe caught his attention instead. Boggart. Had to be. It’d only been a couple of days ago that they’d learnt about this, so he was already prepared not to panic. He grunted as he shifted off of the edge of the mattress, reaching across to the bedside table to grab his wand and preparing himself for the worst. He expected Fenrir Greyback. Hunched, snarling, filthy mouth stretching open to call him ‘pup’. Or maybe the full moon, twisting through the clouds to remind him of the inevitable. What he didn’t expect to see was Sirius, curled up on the floor beneath their robes. 

 

“Pads?”

 

The sharp twist of the boy’s head caused Remus to jump abruptly, and there it was again. That wide-eyed stare that he’d only seen a handful of times before. This time, however, it didn’t change. Sirius sat staring up at him, bright eyes threatening tears and all Remus could do was stare back for a moment. After a moment there was a sniff and Sirius’ bottom lip jutted out.

 

“No no no. Hey, it’s alright.”

 

Both hands lifting up, with flat palms out toward the other as though he could stop the flow of tears with what Sirius’ would always describe as Remus’ jazz hands. One hand reached into the pocket of his loose-fitting hoodie, fumbling for a moment before pulling out a bar of chocolate. Never left his room without some, and for good reason. It always came in handy, and now while Sirius was burying his face in his knees, it only reaffirmed that argument. 

 

For some reason, Remus had gained himself the reputation of being the inexperienced one of the bunch. That he didn’t say much had alluded to him not having anything to say, when it was actually the polar opposite. He chose to keep his mouth shut. It didn’t seem likely that the boy who more often than not had his head in a book, hadn’t come across more than the others had. Never first hand though. He was sure it was called ‘age regression’. He doubted Sirius even knew what it was, he likely just knew that he fell into little space sometimes and didn’t know what to do about it. That would explain why he took himself off, away from the others. Afraid, or ashamed of what they might think. Now, however, there was no running away from it. It was blindingly obvious that he was deep in it, and there was nothing he could do but to just ride it out. 

 

“Look what I’ve got. It’s a special treat, only for good little boys.”

 

Pause.

 

“Not s’posed to take sweets from people. My mummy said so.”

 

If not for the fact that it was utterly impossible, Remus could’ve sworn he felt his heart melt right there in his chest. He forced himself not to grin and rush in to pull his friend into a tight hug, and instead lowered to kneel, nodding softly. 

 

“That’s right, but I’m not a stranger. I’m your friend. Moony.”

 

There was another brief pause and Sirius’ shoulders started to shake. Dread settled in the pit of Remus’ stomach, sure that the other boy was crying and he was quickly trying to find a way to remedy it, until he heard the familiar sound of Sirius’ laughter, muffled into his trousers.

 

“Moony! That’s such a funny name. That’s like what it’s called when you show someone your bum!”

 

Another loud bark of a laugh as Sirius tipped his head back and Remus felt the weight lift off of his shoulders. It was Sirius’ laugh, but different somehow. Lighter. Softer. Without any consent from his brain, Remus felt himself sinking into the ground to sit, a laugh bubbling up from somewhere in the back of his throat.

 

“Yeah, it is a funny name isn’t it?” 

 

“Uh huh.”

 

“Come on then, are you gonna come out and take this chocolate bar from Moony-bum?”

 

“Moony bum! Ha!”

 

Another burst of laughter and Remus’ heart thudded gracelessly in his chest as he extended a hand out to present the chocolate bar. After watching him closely, Sirius shifted onto his hands and knees to crawl from the wardrobe, settling with a soft thud on the floor in front of Remus. Sirius’ usual demeanour was gone entirely. On any other day, he had a certain flair in the way he moved. Doing everything in his power to seem as graceful as possible, even while doing something as stupid as playing dead when James was trying to force him off of his bed. Their late nights weren’t as scandalous and everyone imagined. It was prank planning and pining over Lily mostly. Grabby hands reached for the chocolate to rip it open quickly, taking a loud bite. He lifted his head with a beaming smile, swiping at his mouth with the back of his hand. 

 

“Good, right?”

 

“Mhm!”

 

“Hey, buddy… I need to ask you something, and you have to tell the truth alright? Remember, chocolate’s only for good little boys.”

 

“We always tell the truth. Mummy gets mad if we don’t.”

 

“Well hey, I won’t get mad. Promise.”

 

“Pinkie. Can’t lie on a pinkie.”

 

The words came muffled around another bite of the chocolate bar and accompanied by what could only be described as a happy wiggle on Sirius’ end as he extended his little finger for Remus to interlock with his own. Padfoot was evident, even while Sirius was deep in headspace. Had he been in his animagus form, Remus was sure he’d be wagging his tail. God, it was adorable.

 

“Are you okay? Did… something make you feel bad today?”

 

Abruptly the wiggling stopped and Sirius’ eyes dropped down to the chocolate bar wrapper. Very quickly, Remus found himself regretting he’d asked. Brows knitted together as Remus contemplated taking back the question. It was valid though. How long had Sirius been in that wardrobe, stuck in little space with no-one there to take care of him? That no-one had even noticed sent a wave of guilt over Remus’ entire body. From what he’d gleaned from reading though, it was a coping mechanism. It could be accessed at any time if he’d wanted to, but Remus doubted Sirius had planned to segregate himself from everyone to sit alone in a dusty wardrobe on purpose.

 

“Mm. It’s Reggie’s birthday and… he doesn’t like me anymore.”

 

Oh. Oh, Sirius.

 

“That’s not true. He likes you. Of course he does, what’s there not to like?”

 

“Nuh uh. We always used to play on birthdays, but now he doesn’t wanna be my friend.”

 

Remus had a lot of feelings about Sirius’ family. Every single member. He couldn’t understand how they could behave in such a disgusting way and get away with it. He’d heard the phrase ‘money is power’ thrown around, but until he’d seen it first had, he couldn’t understand it. He wanted to scream in that woman’s face and ask how she could call herself a mother. He wanted to scream at Orion and demand to know why he let his son be treated so badly. He wanted to scream at Regulus and ask him why he let himself be tormented by the people who didn’t give half a shit about him. Nowhere near as much as the brother he was turning away. He wouldn’t do any of those things though. Instead, he’d pull in a breath to ground himself and give a slow nod.

 

“Wanna know a secret?”

 

“Ohh, I… dunno. We’re not s’posed to keep secrets.”

 

“Nah, this one’s okay. It’s only a little secret. A little secret for a little boy.”

 

Remus tipped forward to tap the other’s nose with his index finger and in return, Sirius gave half a smile. Sadness still evident on his face, but he nodded anyway, leaning in to listen to the secret.

 

“You’re my friend, Sirius, and not only that… but you’re my  _ best _ friend.”

 

“Wha - Really?”

 

“Mhm, and that’s special ‘cause I don’t have many of those.”

 

Finally, those bright eyes lifted back up to him and a slow smile spread across Sirius’ face, and if Remus’ hadn’t already been in a state of absolute adoration, he was now. In barely any time at all, Sirius had pushed himself up off of the floor and into newly named ‘Moony bum’, arms thrown around his neck in a tight embrace. Remus barely wasted a second before he was returning the hug, his own arms wrapping around Sirius’ torso firmly, face buried in the mop of dark hair.

 

After that, Remus learnt to keep a better watch. He’d see the crease in Sirius’ brow and nudge him with a foot beneath the table. When those wide eyes lifted to find him, Remus would cross his eyes and poke his tongue out. It didn’t matter what anyone said, the laugh that came out of the boy was the most beautiful sound he could ever imagine. Eventually, it turned into less of him having to keep watch, and Sirius being more confident about what he needed. Remus would be neck deep in revision and he’d feel a soft tug at the corner of his robes. Somehow, it didn’t matter what he was doing, or what he needed to do, he always had time for little Sirius. He’d gather his books from their place in the library and spread them across the mattress in his room instead. Even in little space, Sirius knew exactly what he wanted. Before Remus had even had a proper chance to sit down, Sirius was nudging his way into a position with his head on the other’s lap. 


End file.
